Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Solar on the Rise in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti

Back in 2008 an average neighborhood of regular lower middle class families will only have about one house with solar power. Back then solar was considered highly expensive, and many would have simply not even dreamed about installing it at home. But with 2013, the situation changed drastically, and the prices for solar panels have dropped. This mostly happened due to increase of efficiency since PV industries switched to powerful tools that measure surface roughness and other variables in real operation time, and the material have also become less expensive. These all made it possible for blue-collar families to afford solar panels installation at their homes. It takes about six hours to hook everything up, and the solar panels will only take up approximately one third of the roof but will generate more than enough clean energy for a household.

Many electric companies have also started investing into clean energy projects in economically less fortunate neighborhoods with a lot of vacant land. In Michigan, for example, DTE Energy is planning to start a solar power plant in the city of Ypsilanty, near Ann Arbor, by next summer. Right now, the location has been found, the system is being under design, and the company is waiting for the city to approve this project. It is planned to have over twenty five hundred solar panels installed that will provide electricity to over one hundred of homes in Ypsilanty. The project is guaranteed by DTE to operate in the next twenty years.